VI 
RETURN TO MOMBASA 
12 3 
I have myself shot a pair of which the female had the second 
horn much longer than the front one, while her mate carried 
the ordinary kind. I do not say that the animals may not 
vary slightly in size or shade of colour of the skin accord¬ 
ing to the country they inhabit, just as some species of 
antelopes (such as the bushbuck and, to a less extent, the 
duiker) have types agreeing with the character of their sur¬ 
roundings ; but length of horn is no more a distinction than 
long or short hair among ourselves. I merely record the 
conclusions I have arrived at as the result of my own personal 
experience, and as perhaps helping to explain the different 
opinions expressed by other travellers ; my own being that, 
take him all in all, there is no occasion to stand in much awe 
of “ the armed rhinoceros.” 
There is one other observation that may be worth noting ; 
namely, as to the voice of this curious, old-fashioned-looking 
creature, as I have not seen it alluded to. As far as I know, 
there are three sounds which a rhino can make. When dis¬ 
turbed, he makes a snorting like a steam-engine as he runs. 
Sometimes a mortally wounded rhino cries, when dying ; the 
cry is in a high key, but hardly shrill enough to be called a 
squeal. The third is the natural call, used, I suppose, to its 
mate. This I have heard only at night, when all was still in 
camp. It seems to me most to resemble the bubbling of a 
camel, only in a lower key ; it also sometimes reminds one 
somewhat of the amorous grunting of impala rams. At one 
of my hunting-camps, which was in the midst of thick bush 
where rhinos were numerous, I heard it frequently. Rhinos 
are also found in very open country in Central Africa, and may 
often be seen apparently grazing ; though closer observation 
shows that it is not the grass itself, but certain plants among 
it, which they eat. 
Among other news that awaited me on my return to Laiju 
I learned that a German gentleman (Dr. Kolb) was at the Tana 
unable to proceed owing to difficulties with his caravan, and the 
